Argentina's center-left Peronists celebrate return to power

Argentina's Peronists celebrated their return to power after incumbent President Mauricio Macri conceded defeat in a dramatic election that likely swung the country back to the center-left, saw the return of a divisive former president and threatened to rattle financial markets.

As investors nervously eyed Monday's market opening, thousands of jubilant supporters of Alberto Fernndez and his vice presidential running mate, ex-president Cristina Fernndez, waved sky-blue and white Argentine flags and chanted "We're coming back! We're coming back!" "Today, Alberto is the president of all Argentines," Cristina Fernndez told supporters, some of whom brandished tattoos with her image and the image of her late husband and predecessor as president, Nestor Kirchner.

Late Sunday night, authorities said Alberto Fernndez had 48.1 per cent of the votes compared to 40.4 per cent for Macri, with almost 97 per cent per cent of the votes counted.

He needed 45 per cent support, or 40 per cent support with a 10 percentage point lead, over the nearest rival to avoid a runoff vote on November 24. No official winner has yet been declared.

The election was dominated by concerns over the country's economic woes and rising poverty, with voters rejecting austerity measures that Macri insisted were needed to revive the struggling economy.

"The only thing that concerns us is that Argentines stop suffering once and for all," Alberto Fernndez told the crowd.

The 60-year-old lawyer said he would need the support of Macri's administration to reconstruct what he called the inherited "ashes" of Argentina.

"We're back and we're going to be better!" he said.

Earlier in the evening, Macri told disappointed supporters that he had called Alberto Fernndez to congratulate him and invited him for a breakfast chat Monday at the presidential palace.

"We need an orderly transition that will bring tranquility to all Argentines, because the most important thing is the well-being of all Argentines," Macri said.

Argentina's inflation rate is one of the highest in the world, nearly one third of Argentines are poor and its currency has plunged under Macri, who came into power in 2015 with promises to boost South America's second-largest economy and one of the world's top grains suppliers.

When Macri did surprisingly poorly in August party primaries, which are seen as a barometer of candidate popularity, stocks plunge and the peso depreciated on the possibility of a return to the interventionist economic policies of Cristina Fernndez, who governed from 2007 to 2015.

Observers fear the same could happen Monday.

Argentina's Central bank said early Monday that it would sharply limit the amount of dollars that people can buy amid growing worries of a rapid loss of foreign exchange following Macri's apparent loss.

The bank said dollar purchases will be restricted to $200 a month by bank account and USD 100 cash until December. The previous amount allowed was USD 10,000 a month.

"The last two years have been brutal in Argentina," said Benjamin Gedan, an Argentina expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

"Voters have suffered a painful recession, unimaginably high inflation and a debt crisis. No incumbent could survive in these conditions."
"The nature of that power struggle will determine the direction of Argentina's economic, social and foreign policy in coming years."
"This will not be a replay of her presidency."